England rediscover their roar to end Ireland’s Grand Slam charge،
LONDON — Under a clear night sky, one of the greatest upsets in recent rugby history took place. Marcus Smith's 81st-minute drop-goal was a rugby exorcism, as England halted Ireland's seemingly inevitable Grand Slam charge and let go of some demons in the process.
It feels like we've been waiting for this performance from England ever since they beat the All Blacks in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. This group of players have been booed in recent years, but this time, the stands at Twickenham were a scene of pure exhilaration at full time. As Smith walked away to celebrate his game-winning kick – the one that secured the 23-22 victory – the old pitch bounced, so much so that we could feel the entire stadium moving beneath our feet.
Smith's drop-goal will be replayed over and over again. It was applauded just as loudly in the replay broadcast shortly after the match ended as it was in real time – and for those who have lived through years of underperformance, false dawns and frustration, it felt like a victory brilliant. All composure was completely lost on the bench. Players ignored the bumps and bruises to celebrate, as chaos ensued both on the pitch, on the bench, in the stands and surely in pubs across the county.
There were heroic performances: Ben Earl was monumental but it was a victory for the whole collective rather than the individuals. England finished with 14 men – Chandler Cunningham-South injured – while Immanuel Feyi-Waboso hopped on one leg in the final moments. But they still played. As they hammered the Irish line, trailing 22-20, to try one last time to win the match, we feared the worst. We've seen these moments escape them in the past: a pass finds contact, a player hits. But with a penalty advantage behind them, Danny Care showed clarity and precision – in his 100th cap – to gift Smith the match-winning moment.
Ireland will regret a missed opportunity. The build-up to this match has them as overwhelming favourites, with England seen as underdogs on their home turf. England came into this competition with two wins from three and a crushing defeat to Scotland last weekend, while Ireland had already racked up victories against France, Italy and Wales.
Ireland has established itself as the benchmark for rugby teams and nations in this hemisphere. Andy Farrell has crafted a ruthless winning machine, and it looked like this Six Nations title was already booked to stay in Dublin. Such was Irish dominance through the first three rounds, and last year's hangover, the championship threatened to become a two-tiered tournament: Ireland and the rest.
But it was an atypical Irish performance: they made sloppy errors at the breakdown and the free-kick and whenever they had the chance to shake England's self-confidence, they took their foot off the pedal and England pounced.
“Look at the quality of players they have and certainly when you come back from a defeat it focuses the mind a bit,” Andy Farrell said afterwards. “I thought they were great tonight, they were physical, tough on the gain line and played some good rugby.”
England took the lead after just three minutes as a dart from George Furbank helped improve field position to put Ollie Lawrence in the corner. England continued to dominate territory and possession, but Ireland rocked the scoreboard to go into the break 12-8 up, with England being denied another try from Lawrence for a knock-on lead. Furbank.
Ireland started the second half in the ascendancy with James Lowe flying over from the corner after 43 minutes. But just four minutes later England got their second try with Furbank scoring as England exploited an overlap with Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje putting him over. A yellow card for Peter O'Mahony just before the hour mark did not help the Irish cause and two minutes later the excellent Earl took over.
England continued the phase play, making yards and punishing Ireland, playing with fluidity and determination. But this Ireland team are a special group, drawing on unlimited experience to win these tussles and Lowe's 72nd-minute try gave them a 22-20 advantage. Jack Crowley's conversion was off-target, and so it came down to a mental battle over material in the final throes.
England's attack stuttered repeatedly and the specter of previous valiant defeats haunted the scene, but then Feyi-Waboso raced into Irish territory, England kept the ball alive and Smith s 'sat in the pocket and dropped the game-winning goal. Accomplished job.
It is also a victory for the English management. Steve Borthwick spoke this week about how he felt the pressure of the shirt got on England at times against Scotland, but back at home they handled it brilliantly. His draft calls paid off. George Martin did an incredible amount of work on the second line, and his selection allowed Ollie Chessum to maraud more on the blind side. He was outstanding – playing 8th in the scrum – as was Lawrence in the crosses, making 14 tackles and also punishing Ireland with ball in hand.
Furbank was also assured at full-back while the return of Alex Mitchell at scrum-half energized the English attack. And then there was Feyi-Waboso, the young winger who was playing rugby in the third division 10 months ago. He is now a testing winger, a ruthlessly dangerous striker with ball in hand and a bag of skills for setting up the pitch.
During the preparation, Jamie George explained that England wanted to “defend” their country “like any Englishman would”. And that's what happened. This was an England team that was bored of taking a step forward, then a step back, and instead it was them standing up and accepting the expectations.
Ireland are one win away from retaining the Six Nations and, once Saturday's disappointment has passed, a second title in as many years will be a fitting reward for this brilliant team. England still have a chance of winning the title – building on a Scotland win in Dublin next weekend – but this has to be the seminal moment for this team.
If they fail in France next week, this victory could be considered a rarity. This simply cannot happen. We now know what this group of players is capable of. This whirlwind moment must be the foundation from which they build a team capable of challenging for the Six Nations on an annual basis. But tonight Twickenham and its surrounding areas will be a scene of relief and celebration after witnessing a match where England regained their roar.
